New research from FT Strategies sets out a practical framework for building financially resilient, community-rooted local news organisations at a time of increasing pressure on the news ecosystem in the United States.
The Local News Playbook: Creating Value for a Sustainable Future draws on interviews with global media leaders, a survey of high-performing local news organisations across nine countries, and FT Strategies’ experience working with more than 1,000 news organisations worldwide.
The report, produced with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, examines what distinguishes local news organisations that built sustainable business models and how those lessons can be applied across different markets, ownership models, and stages of maturity.
The report sets out five core value drivers that underpin sustainable local news organisations:
- Community connection - reflected in reporting that is closely aligned to local needs and civic life
- Direct relationships - built through owned channels such as newsletters, messaging services and events
- Revenue balance - with income drawn from multiple sources including reader revenue, advertising, services and philanthropy
- Mission alignment - ensuring editorial purpose and commercial decision-making reinforce one another
- Intelligent innovation - including responsible use of data and automation to support newsroom capacity
Together, these factors shape what the report describes as a reinforcing cycle between relevance, audience engagement, revenue and organisational capacity.
“The most resilient local news organisations are those that treat community time as their most precious resource,” said George Adelman, Director and head of partnerships at FT Strategies. “This playbook sets out a practical, evidence-led approach for local media organisations, funders and policymakers who want to strengthen local news as a lasting civic institution, one that is financially viable and delivers clear public value.”
In addition to guidance for publishers, the report outlines priorities for funders and policymakers, including longer-term funding approaches, investment in shared services and leadership capability, and policy frameworks that support fair value exchange between platforms and news organisations.
For more information, please contact: pressoffice@ft.com
Read the full report here
About the FT Group
The FT Group, part of Nikkei Inc., includes the Financial Times and a number of other services that provide essential news and analysis for the global business community. The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of 1.6mn, while the wider FT Group has a global paying audience of 3mn across its portfolio of journalism, products and services.
About FT Strategies
FT Strategies provides the expert insight, integrity and consulting excellence required to transform businesses based on real-world, first-hand experience. We work together with our clients to deliver sustainable growth strategies, built on leading-edge capabilities that improve customer engagement, retention, revenues and profit. The FT transformed from a 135-year-old legacy print brand into a thriving digital model, and FT Strategies utilises this practical best-in-class expertise to help clients thrive in the digital economy.
About Knight Foundation
We are social investors who support a more effective democracy by funding free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in areas like artificial intelligence, and the success of American cities and towns where the Knight brothers once published newspapers. Learn more at kf.org.